The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Center for the Healing Arts in Denver, Colorado, will more than double its footprint with the official opening of its new wing this month. The 25,000-square-foot expansion, designed by Fentress Architects, includes four new studios, a 240-seat theater, and dressing and locker rooms, in addition to a reception area, office facilities, and an outdoor deck. It is adjacent to the organization’s existing headquarters at the Shorter AME facility, a National Historic Landmark and once the site of the oldest African American church in Denver, which has housed CPRD since 1988.
The new wing’s east-facing facade features solar panels that transcribe the choreography of Robinson’s “Mary Don’t You Weep,” from her 1986 Spiritual Suite (created for the first celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Morehouse College), in Labanotation. In a press statement, Robinson noted that the design “welcomes the light into our new sacred space. It reflects the light carried by our ancestors, founders, dancers, artists, staff, students, board members, and decades of volunteers and supporters who continue to build what we have today.” As of press time, more than 50 percent of the individual donors who contributed to the $25 million raised in the ongoing expansion campaign were from the local African American community.
The official ribbon-cutting and inaugural performance in the new CPRD Theatre on January 17 is the centerpiece of a full week of events, which is slated to include a film festival, an open house for the CPRD Academy, and more. The theater, studios, and meeting spaces are expected to be available to rent following the grand opening.
